He's Dr Chris.
He's Dr Xand.
And yes, we're identical twins!
Do you know your body does heaps of amazing things every single day?
That is incredible.
And we're going to show you how.
Ah! You've cut him in half.
We've got incredible experiments
- Ah! - BOTH: Wow.
And real-life medical emergencies.
- There's a big chunk of my leg missing. - Ouch!
We'll be turning our bodies inside out...
Oh, yuck!
..to show you what you're made of.
HE BREAKS WIND You should see a doctor.
I'd better go find one.
HE CLEARS HIS THROAT
Dr Xand, hmm?
Coming up today...
On Operation Ouch!
What are you doing in there?
We find out what makes your ticker tick.
This is a real heart.
I'm on the road with the West Midlands Ambulance Service.
We're driving toward the emergency and the call is still going on.
And we show you what to do if this happens.
I think I've broken my arm.
But first...
..we're giving you exclusive access to
an Accident and Emergency department.
- Well, come on. Let's meet the first patient! - All right, all right.
At the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital,
seven-year-old Logan has come in with his mum
and a rather unique ailment.
Whoa, what's happened to your cheek?
My cheek looks like a hamster cheek.
So, you're a cheeky little hamster?
- No, I'm not a hamster. - Are you sure? - No.
OK, let's find out how he got that swollen cheek.
- OWL HOOTS - Logan was cosily tucked up in bed
when a pain in his tooth disturbed his sleep.
Uh, hello? Who's this little fella?
Keep up, Xand. It's a hamster.
Anyway, Logan had taken his nasty gnasher
to get fixed by a dentist before.
But the painful problem came back.
Ooh, nice swag bag, Hammy!
What? Focus, Xand!
ZAP! Oh, OK.
Logan didn't feel like himself, and so woke up his mum.
Not only did he have a sore tooth, he had a red, swollen face, too.
Oh, so that's where the hamster comes in? Ouch.
Someone who does understand Logan's torturous tooth
is Dr Alex Trott.
What's been happening, Logan?
It's been sore
and it's turned into a hamster cheek.
Right.
- I've got a shiner here... - I can see.
- ..and it's bright pink. - OK.
And inside I've got a tooth and it's got a big, black hole in it.
A black hole?
Well, that's a thorough rundown of your ailments, Logan.
Can you open your mouth for me?
I'm just going to have a look with the torch.
Dr Alex needs to spot exactly where all this pain
- and swelling is coming from. - And it's sore up there? - Yeah.
So, what do you reckon, Doc?
OK. It's a dental abscess, but it's quite a nasty one.
So, it's one of these top teeth, I think it's his back baby
- molar tooth and that's where the infection is sitting. - OK.
OK.
A dental abscess is a collection of gooey pus that forms in the
tooth or in the gum and is caused by a bacterial infection.
First, it's off to X-ray for a proper look.
Come closer. Your chin on here, you bite on there,
and we'll be done in a minute.
Good boy, really still.
OK, well done.
That's the problem tooth right there.
It needs fixing, so we'll catch up with Logan a bit later on
and find out what happens.
And now to our lab for some amazing body experiments.
- Eugh! - Whoa.
Just don't try anything you see here at home.
Today it's your body's ticker, the heart.
Xand is having a little lie down.
You could actually try this bit at home. It's quite nice.
But what you can't try at home is hooking Xand up
to an electrocardiogram, which is what I've done,
and it's basically a heart monitor.
And each one of these spikes on the display is a separate
beat of the heart. And it doesn't matter what you're doing, even if
you're just lazing around like Xand,
- your heart never stops beating. - XAND SNORES
It beats even when you're asleep,
as Xand seems to be illustrating perfectly.
You can see the spikes and his pulse is around 70.
OK, Xand, demonstration over.
What? What? What demonstration?
I've been awake the whole time.
Now, your heart was beating when you were
a six-week-old embryo inside your mum,
just the size of a raisin.
Your heart is made up of millions of tiny cells
and each one of those cells beats on its own.
And here's one of them. This is a single heart cell.
It just won't stop beating, even without its mates.
Absolutely brilliant, isn't it, Xand?
- Xand? Xand! - What?
It's not nap time!
Now, if you ask more of your body,
say when you exercise...
- Exercise? - Yes, Xand, exercise.
..your heart will step up to help you out.
Right, give me some nice, big star jumps, please, Xand.
When you exercise, your muscles need lots more blood and oxygen.
To provide this the heart speeds up.
As you can see, Xand's heart rate is much higher now than when he
was lying down. Even at rest,
it beats around 100,000 times a day.
So, you've seen how your heart beats at different rates
depending on what you're doing.
But how does your heart actually work?
How does it get all that blood where you need it, when you need it?
Well, we're going to show you.
Check this out! This is a real heart.
It's from a pig, but don't let that put you off.
It's very similar to a human heart
and it's a pump with no equal.
Blood arrives in the heart all tired and out of oxygen.
The heart pumps it straight to the lungs, where it collects new oxygen.
Back at the heart, it's given a mega pump,
which scoots it all around the body.
And there's no chance of it going the wrong way, thanks to the
heart's special valves.
And if you add up all the blood each of these beats
pushes around the body it comes to
7,200 litres a day.
That's enough to fill 93 bathtubs.
We've only got one bathtub!
And if you fill it with blood, where am I going to have my bath?
- HE SNIFFS - You need a bath.
Now, to show you how it manages to do that
we're going to cut our pig's heart open.
Looking inside the heart is absolutely amazing.
The muscle here is very thick.
This makes the heart really strong
and that's how it's able to pump blood right around your body.
But it couldn't do it without one important bit of the heart -
the valves, and you can see them here.
Their job is to make sure the blood goes in the right direction.
To see how the heart does its incredible job,
we've set up our real heart,
using plastic tubes as blood vessels
and green water to do the job of your blood.
OK, Chris, lift your bucket up a little bit.
First the heart fills with blood.
It does this every time it beats.
- Whoa, look at that! - Look at it fill!
OK, and squeeze now.
Xand's hands are doing what the heart does by itself
thousands of times a day.
And the heart is clever, because everything's going into that
bucket and nothing's going back into Chris' bucket.
The heart only pumps blood in one direction.
And that's thanks to the valves,
not to Harry Styles.
But there's one question that still remains.
How powerful is the heart and how far can it squirt blood?
I've filled the heart.
Now, you hold that bit. I'm going to get the bucket.
Give me that. Quick, quick! Get the bucket.
- OK, see if you can get it... - About a foot?
- Yeah, about half a metre. Go! - OK, go!
- Yay! - That's not bad, but I think we can go further.
- Let's refill the heart. - OK, quick, fill it up again.
But Xand's squeeze is not nearly as strong as a heartbeat.
Just aim it all in the bucket.
- Ready? - OK. Three, two, one.
XAND GROANS AND LAUGHS
Xand gets quite a lot beyond the bucket...
You just didn't get any in the bucket.
But I still think that's impressive, about two and a half metres.
Two and a half metres is pretty good,
but a live heart actually beats powerfully enough
to squirt blood more than ten metres.
Ten metres? That's more powerful than my best water pistol!
Luckily, Xand's not ten metres away.
Now, we're getting Ouch & About with our mobile clinic.
Today we're at a theme park
to help solve your medical mysteries.
If you're anxious about an ailment,
or curious about a condition,
then the Ouch-Mobile is the place for you.
That is incredible.
Chris is preparing the clinic ready for his first patient.
And Xand is out in the park to answer your burning questions.
At the clinic, Chris is open for business.
Next patient, please.
First in is nine-year-old Shoma with a question about some
frightful findings on his feet.
I've got a bunch of verrucas on my foot that won't go away.
Well, what have you got to say about this, Chris?
This sounds like a rare case of
And breathe.
Now, let's have a look.
Yeah, one, two, three...
There's a little cluster of them, here.
Now, that's the big daddy verruca, there,
then more up here.
That's an impressive nine verrucas
on one foot.
How do you get verrucas?
So, verrucas are viruses. So, you get them from walking around
where other people with verrucas have walked.
The virus has got quite a cool name.
- Want to know what it is? - Yeah.
It's called the:
Can you say that?
Nice one, Shoma.
The virus causes your skin to grow in an uncontrollable way,
leading to these lumps.
But the good news is, they often go away on their own.
The important thing if you have a verruca is to not spread it
to other people. So, when you go swimming you've got to
wear a verruca sock. When you play PE you've got to keep your shoes on.
And don't worry if you have verrucas,
they'll probably soon disappear by themselves.
Away from the clinic, Xand is Ouch & About in the park.
Now, let's see if there are any medical mysteries
or maybe people have got some questions for me.
Why does your heart beat fast on roller-coasters?
When you're frightened,
your body releases a hormone
called adrenaline and that makes your heart beat faster,
cos your body thinks it might have to run away.
Like if a tiger attacked you, you'd get a load of adrenaline,
your heart would beat fast and you'd run away faster.
That's what your body's doing, preparing to run away,
even though you're strapped into a roller-coaster.
Xand, look what I did today!
Oh, no! That's terrible. What happened?
Well, I was going on the ride and I hit my leg on the side of the ride.
- Ah, was it painful? - Yeah.
When you get a bruise, you break the blood vessels under your skin.
What you're seeing is bleeding under the skin.
All that stuff that looks black is actually red blood
and it'll gradually change colour as it heals.
Back at the Ouch-Mobile, there's a new case in the waiting room.
Hi, Dr Chris.
It's ten-year-old Mohammed and he's got something incredible to show us.
Mohammed, why have you come to the Ouch-Mobile today?
I can fold my ear and stick it in this hole here.
You can fold your ear in what?
Diagnose this, Chris.
So, this sounds like a very rare case of
Well, I can't wait to see it.
Wow!
That is the most bendy ear I've ever seen.
OK, Mohammed, give it a little wiggle
and make it pop out.
Well, let's see that again.
How come I can do that with my ear?
Well, inside your ear you've got some very bendy stuff called
cartilage and it's the same stuff that's in your nose.
So, I don't think there's anything wrong with your cartilage.
It's just nice and soft and you've got bendy ears.
Job done for today.
Still to come...
Chris is on call in the West Midlands
with a rapid response unit...
- John, have some nice, big breaths. - That's it.
..we show you how to cope with a medical mishap...
Yeah, that feels much better.
..and I meet a dog trained to save lives.
Back in Accident and Emergency,
Logan is waiting for an operation on his abscess.
Ooh, I love a good abscess.
But how did he get that swollen cheek and eye?
It all started one night when a bad pain in Logan's tooth
disturbed his sleep.
He woke up his mum and not only did he have a sore tooth,
he had a red, swollen face
that made him look a little odd. Ouch.
Logan's tooth is badly infected and needs something done about it.
What we need to do, really, is get that tooth out.
So, he's going to need an operation to remove the gnarly gnasher.
But our patient has his own ideas about what's going on in his mouth.
I'm waiting for someone to take the bad soldiers out
and the bad tooth out.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Bad soldiers?
The bad soldiers were attacking that to make it more bigger,
the good soldiers were fighting the battle.
But who wins, Logan?
The good soldiers win,
because there's only about
41 bad soldiers and...
..57 good soldiers.
Huzzah, brilliant!
Best get you off to surgery, Logan.
First, Logan is put to sleep, so he won't feel a thing.
Performing the operation today is:
He removes Logan's problem tooth using extraction forceps.
At the same time, he spots some other broken teeth in Logan's mouth
and he takes those out, too.
That's OK, though. These are his milk teeth
and replacements will soon grow in.
Surgery done and dusted, Logan's abscess has been fixed
and he's had a few other potential problems solved as well.
We just took out these five teeth and, hopefully, he'll get big,
new, shiny teeth in to replace the ones we've taken out.
Logan just has to make sure that he's cleaning his teeth
really effectively now.
He needs to be brushing twice a day, using a good fluoride toothpaste
and he has to be careful how many sweets he's eating, too.
Our patient is wide awake and the swelling has gone down.
So, that's what you look like normally?
Logan's usually a chatterbox, but it's evening time on the
children's ward, so he has to be extra quiet.
- WHISPERS - Can you tell us how you're feeling?
We'll take that as a good sign.
So good, in fact, he's off home.
Just like a good little soldier.
BOTH: Bye!
In the UK, there are hundreds of rapid response
medical teams on standby...
And they have to get to the scene of an emergency in minutes.
We're on call with the UK emergency services, showing you what
it's really like on the front line saving lives.
This state-of-the-art rapid response vehicle can get to the
scene of a medical emergency in minutes. And today, I'm going
out in it to show you what it's like to be a life-saving paramedic.
If you have an accident, this fast medical service is ready to help
24 hours a day.
You never know what we're going to find when we get there,
but I've got my camera and, of course, Eric's in the back with his.
So, we've got it covered from all angles.
On call with me is paramedic Jan Vann.
She can do 20 emergency callouts in a day.
And a new case is just in.
We're driving toward the emergency and the call is still going on.
And it's just come in that it's a 75-year-old man.
Jan is the first medic on the scene to see Don.
- Hello, Donald. - Hello.
- Have you got any pain anywhere? - In me hip.
Right, we need to try and get you onto your back
so I can assess whether we think you've broken it or not.
Right, I'm going to pull on your trousers.
It's clear Don's had a nasty fall and to make him more
comfortable, Jan wants to move him onto his back.
Give us your arm, then, so I can do your blood pressure.
Are you happy to go to the hospital today and maybe get an X-ray, yeah?
Yeah. Anything.
To help Don with his injury, Jan gives him some pain relief.
This goes over your face
and you breathe it in and it makes this funny noise.
Don, have some nice, big breaths.
Don's getting some Entonox, also known as laughing gas.
That's the hissing you can hear,
so he should start feeling like he's in a bit less pain.
I've called for an ambulance to back us up
cos we're going to get him into the hospital and
get him an X-ray on his hip.
We think he may have broke it. We can't treat that at home.
He needs to be seen at the hospital.
With a suspected broken hip, the ambulance crew arrive
with some special equipment.
The ambulance team are using a really cool piece of kit called
a scoop. And it comes in two halves, which you can slide together
under the patient. They meet in the middle and then it's like he's on a
bed, and they just pick him up and scoop him straight to hospital.
Don, how do you feel?
- A little bit easier now. - A bit easier? Good.
- Ready? - Ready, set.
Jan did a great job helping Don with his pain
and making him more comfortable.
Now he's off to hospital, they'll X-ray him
and see if they can do anything to treat the cause of that pain
in his hip.
And if you ever have an emergency, there are hundreds of similar
crews around the country, ready to help.
Theirs are just bigger.
But all bones need looking after.
Cycling in the park, brilliant exercise
and a brilliant way to get some sunshine.
But of course, cycling can also be dangerous!
You could cycle into a hedge and hit your head.
That's why I'm wearing this snazzy helmet.
Or you could fall off and get a nasty graze on your knee.
CRASH!
That's why I'm wearing these snazzy leggings.
And finally, of course, you need to
make sure your bike is properly maintained.
You wouldn't want to squeeze your brakes and...
Uh-oh, my brakes!
- Ah! - My brakes!
Ahh!
THUD!
- Oh... - Oh.
Well, thanks to my helmet, I don't have a head injury.
Me neither. And thanks to these leggings, I haven't got any grazes.
But on the downside,
I think I've broken my arm.
Sounds like an injury alert.
You guessed it,
the answer is B!
Here's how it's done.
So, Chris, put your arm against your body, gently as you can.
- It really hurts if I move it. - And then what we can do is use Chris'
jumper to support the arm itself.
- So, if I go very gently, trying not to move the arm. - Ow.
Now, remember, we're showing you what to do in an emergency.
Never do this on your own, unless it IS an emergency.
Always try and find an adult.
How's that? Can you now relax your arm?
- Yeah, that feels much better. - Yeah, more comfortable, isn't it?
So, once he's feeling better, we can get him to hospital.
He's going to be more comfortable moving.
We can get him X-rayed and see what's going on.
So, now it's this lot's turn to have a go.
Ow! Ah!
SCREAMING
That's really good. So, try and be very gentle with that arm.
How's that feeling? Can you relax that arm now?
- Feels pretty good? - Yeah, it feels a lot better.
Obviously, most of the time, when you've got a broken arm
you don't need to call an ambulance. You can get in a car
and go to A&E yourself.
So, if you think you might have broken your arm,
support it to stop it moving using your hand or clothing or cushions,
and tell an adult or call 999.
Are you sure it's broken, Chris?
Better safe than sorry, Xand.
Your body is amazing, but sometimes it needs fixing.
All over the country there are special teams of professionals
trained to tackle medical mysteries, and not all of them are human.
Dogs have 200 million smell receptors,
making them really superior sniffers.
And dogs' noses don't get much better than Shirley's here,
because Shirley's nose is a bit of a lifesaver.
Shirley's nose has been trained to help Rebecca.
Rebecca has Type 1 diabetes.
This means that her body doesn't produce a chemical called insulin.
And amazingly, Shirley's incredible nose can sniff out
when there are problems.
Insulin's job is to make sure you have just the right amount of...
- WHISTLE BLOWS - ..sugar in your blood.
When your body doesn't produce insulin,
blood sugar gets out of control.
So, if your blood sugar is too high, you inject insulin.
WHISTLE BLOWS
And if it's too low, you have to eat something sweet.
How many times a day do you have to take insulin?
Four times. One for breakfast,
one for lunch, dinner
and night-time.
But Rebecca's blood sugar varies depending on what she's up to,
and Shirley can spot it.
This is something that humans could never do.
She's able to detect changes in Rebecca's
breath as soon as they happen,
and, usually, that's before Rebecca
has even the slightest idea that anything's wrong.
So, this is definitely a dog that thinks there's something going on?
- Yeah. - When Shirley smells a problem, she licks Rebecca
and her blood can be tested.
2.8.
Then she can inject more insulin or get help
before things get dangerous.
What would have happened before you had Shirley?
I would have had the ambulance once or twice a week.
So, since you've had Shirley,
how many times have you had an ambulance?
Erm, like once in three years.
Shirley's on call for Rebecca 24/7,
checking on her right through the night.
Rebecca leaves for school in the morning, while Shirley catches
up on some sleep, but she soon wakes up for duty.
Do you actually feel happier that Rebecca's safer
when Shirley's around?
Yeah, very. Shirley's always on the sniff.
And Shirley's sniffing keeps Rebecca safe.
Shirley has completely changed Rebecca's life,
because although Rebecca will always have Type 1 diabetes,
now, thanks to Shirley's super-sensitive sniffer,
rather than calling all those ambulances,
all she gets is lots of big, wet doggy kisses.
Yum!
Let's go back to Accident and Emergency to meet our next patient.
And you're not going to believe this one.
In Liverpool Accident and Emergency, six-year-old Gracie
has arrived with her mum and a big bandage on her finger.
I've got a slipped finger.
A slipped finger?
It was bleeding a lot.
Ah, a slit finger!
Sounds like a nasty cut.
I think the doctor's going to make it all better.
That's right, but how did the ghastly gash happen?
Well, Chris, once upon a time in a faraway land...
Erm, Liverpool, Xand. Gracie's from Liverpool.
Go with it, Chris. We're in the fairy-tale land of Liverpool.
Erm, righto.
Princess Gracie was in her castle admiring her mother's jewels.
Hang on, who's that?
A fairy, obviously. And she's flown off with the diamond earring.
Erm, OK.
And Gracie was trying to get it back, when all of a sudden
the earring flew under the roaring...
Xand, that's an electric fire.
Oh, all right, fine.
But as she tried to retrieve the earring her hand got stuck.
Uh-oh!
- And when she pulled it out, her finger sliced open. - Ouch.
There's a bit of a queue in Accident and Emergency.
So, while we're waiting, why don't you tell us
something about yourself, Gracie?
I've never been to A&E before.
- Never been to A&E before? Well done. - I've got pierced ears.
Ah, she likes her bling!
These are my plaits.
- They'd suit you, Xand. - Oh, thank you.
That's enough about you, Gracie.
Time for Nurse Practitioner Julia Maxted to sort that cut out.
Can you just bend your finger, the little end bit?
Lovely, and straighten it again.
First things first, Nurse Julia needs to figure out
if Gracie's cut is so deep it's damaged the insides.
Ooh, you're very brave.
We do that to just check that the ligaments are all working.
A ligament is the tissue that joins a bone to a bone.
Can you feel me touching there and there?
Good girl.
- That's quite a cut you've got there, Gracie. - Yeah.
But the nurse is happy there's no internal damage done,
so she can clean that cut and make sure
there's no dirt lurking deep inside.
Squeeze my hand, as hard as you can.
Whoa, she's strong!
To help the cut heal and join Gracie's flesh back together,
the nurse has some special paper stitches.
And then we just pull the edges of your cut together.
With her finger taped back together, Nurse Julia is using
a hi-tech bandage strapper device...thingy.
A what? It's just a bandage applicator, Xand.
- Yeah, well, it's pretty cool though. - It is.
And the bandage will keep Gracie's damaged digit nice and clean.
You won't be able to help with the washing up or anything like that.
Oh, nice one.
OK. How does that feel?
- All right. - OK?
Gracie will need to keep the tape and bandage on for three days.
It feels better.
Any advice for other budding princesses out there, Gracie?
Be careful with your hands or this will happen.
Wise words. So, leave it to Mum to rescue that earring.
BOTH: Bye!
Next time on Operation Ouch!
We find out what comes out when you cough...
Oh, yuck!
..our mobile clinic will be solving more of your medical mysteries...
Can I have the next patient, please?
..and amazing surgery changes this boy's life.
I've never seen this operation before, so I'm very excited.
BOTH: We'll see you next time for more Operation Ouch!
I think there's something wrong with my hula hoop.
You're not using your hips.
Are you sure it's broken, Chris?
Better safe than sorry, Xand.